Brett Lee inducted into Australian Cricket Hall Of Fame

Former pacer Brett Lee is the latest player to be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame, Cricket Australia announced on Sunday.

Lee is the 62nd player to join the list which already features some of the most legendary Australian cricketers in history.

Lee, who had the nickname ‘Binga’, took a five-for on his international debut during the Boxing Day Test against India in in Melbourne in 1999. Overall, he played 76 Tests and took 310 wickets, the eighth-highest for Australia in the red-ball format.

He was an even more devastating bowler in limited-overs cricket with his searing yorkers and the subsequent ‘chainsaw’ celebration.

Lee, with 380 wickets in 221 ODIs, is the joint-most successful Australian bowler in the 50-over format along with former teammate Glenn McGrath. He played an instrumental role in Australia’s title defence during the ODI World Cup in 2003 with 22 scalps, the second-highest in the tournament, which included a hat-trick against Kenya.

With his express pace easily exceeding the 150 km/h mark and some times even touching 160 km/h, Lee was a major threat to batters across teams during his career from 1999 to 2012.

“That (160 km/h) means more to me than any wicket I’ve taken. Of course, the team comes first – to win the (2003) World Cup, the 16 straight Test wins, that’s the pinnacle; that’s why you play the game,” Lee told cricket.com.au.

“But in terms of personal milestones, it wasn’t wickets for me. Because I’d set my goal at such a young age to hit that 160(kph) barrier and to go past it … when you dream about something, you dedicate your life to achieving that dream, and it comes off, it’s very special.”

Lee recorded over 160 km/h twice in his career — the first was at the 2003 World Cup in South Africa where he dismissed Sri Lanka’s Marvan Atapattu with a 160.1 km/h delivery in the semifinal. He then famously clocked his fastest recorded delivery at 160.8 km/h during the fifth ODI against New Zealand in Napier on March 5, 2005.

He was also the first-ever bowler to take a hat-trick in T20Is. He achieved the feat against Bangladesh in Cape Town during the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. He only played 25 matches in the shortest format and finished with 28 wickets to his name but he did feature in T20 leagues such as Big Bash League (for Sydney Sixers) and the Indian Premier League (Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab) till 2015.

He was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2006, and two years later, he also received the prestigious Allan Border Medal.

In his efforts to bowl as fast as he could, Lee also put his body under a lot of stress and naturally, suffered from several injury setbacks.

The 49-year-old Lee gives credits Dennis Lillee, another legendary Australian pacer, for his 13-year-long international career. He had first met Lillee as a teenager at a fast-bowling camp.

“You’re the quickest here, but if you don’t change your [bowling] action, in two years I reckon you’ll have a broken back,” Lillee had told Lee at that time, according to Australian Associated Press.

Lee didn’t pay heed to Lillee’s words and soon, paid the price. “When you’re 16 you think you’re invincible, and two years later I broke my back,” he said.

But Cricket Australia made arrangements for Lee to be mentored by Lillee in Perth as the governing body did not want to waste such a talented youngster.

“Throughout my whole career he’s been incredible in modifying my action, changing my action and allowing me to play – I wouldn’t say pain-free – but to get to the speeds I did,” Lee said.

Here’s the full list of players who have been inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall Of Fame:-

1996 – Fred Spofforth, John Blackham, Victor Trumper, Clarrie Grimmett, Bill Ponsford, Sir Donald Bradman, Bill O’Reilly, Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall and Dennis Lillee

2000 – Warwick Armstrong, Neil Harvey and Allan Border

2001 – Bill Woodfull and Arthur Morris

2002 – Stan McCabe and Greg Chappell

2003 – Lindsay Hassett and Ian Chappell

2004 – Hugh Trumble and Alan Davidson

2005 – Clem Hill and Rod Marsh

2006 – Monty Noble and Bob Simpson

2007 – Charles Macartney and Richie Benaud

2008 – George Giffen and Ian Healy

2009 – Steve Waugh

2010 – Bill Lawry and Graham McKenzie

2011 – Mark Taylor and Doug Walters

2012 – Shane Warne

2013 – Charlie Turner and Glenn McGrath

2014 – Mark Waugh and Belinda Clark

2015 – Adam Gilchrist and Jack Ryder

2016 – Jeff Thomson and Wally Grout

2017 – David Boon, Matthew Hayden and Betty Wilson

2018 – Norm O’Neill, Ricky Ponting and Karen Rolton

2019 – Cathryn Fitzpatrick, Dean Jones and Billy Murdoch

2020 – Sharon Tredrea and Craig McDermott

2021 – Johnny Mullagh (Unaarrimin), Merv Hughes and Lisa Sthalekar

2022 – Justin Langer and Raelee Thompson

2023 – Marg Jennings and Ian Redpath

2024 – Michael Hussey and Lyn Larsen

2025 – Michael Clarke, Christina Matthews and Michael Bevan

2026 – Brett Lee

Published on Dec 28, 2025